2017 Qilak Award

CASCA is pleased to announce Dr. Pierre Chastenay of the Université du Québec à Montréal as the 2017 recipient of the Qilak Award.

Dr. Chastenay received his MSc in Astrophysics from Université Laval, in Quebec City, in 1987. He then embarked on a remarkable career in public science communications and earned a PhD in Science Education from Université de Montréal in 2013.

Dr. Chastenay has been a leader in astronomy education and outreach in Canada for over 30 years. He led the development of over 100 long-running programs at the Planétarium de Montréal from 1988 to 2013. He was host of 156 episodes of Téléscience from 1996 to 2007 and over 200 episodes of Le Code Chastenay, which won a Prix Gémeaux in 2016. As a professor at UQAM, he has been creating educational materials for both students and teachers, and he has effectively been training a new generation of science teachers. The sheer breadth of his achievements (TV/radio, books, articles, planetarium programs) has earned him the prestigious distinction of becoming Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Pléiade.

CASCA is delighted to recognize Dr. Chastenay’s long and distinguished record of outstanding contributions to communicating astronomy to Canadians.